Where it began
The organisation was founded over 80 years ago in 1924 by Joseph Allnatt, a visionary and entrepreneur. He bought a dis-used aerodrome in St Mary's Bay, Kent and converted it into a Residential Centre for Schools during the summer and ran it as a Turkey farm during the winter!

How it continued
The Camp was huge, accommodating over a thousand children per week engaged in a vast programme of outdoor activities in the extensive grounds, and visits into the surrounding countryside. A highlight of the week was the Campfire and Sing Song attended on occasions by the Duke of York. Later Royalty included the Princess Royal and the Crown Prince of Norway, who with heavy bodyguard presence, managed to complete a Geography Field Trip each!

By the 1950s the organisation had become a Limited Company, Joseph Allnatt Centres Limited, and it was time to move on. The Camp was sold and over the next ten years six smaller Centres were opened around the country in accommodation ranging from Hotels to Mansion Houses to a Grammar School.

School trips were well established and teachers happily ran their own programme's of study, with regular coach trips to local places of interest. The Centres provided budget accommodation as a base for the schools week away. Each day a fleet of coaches would arrive outside each Centre to transport the children to a variety of venues before returning them for a swim in the Centre Pool before the Evening Meal.

In the 1980s circumstances occurred which changed the direction of the Company. By now Joseph Allnatt had died and the Company was headed by his son-in-law, Dennis Martin, who wished to preserve both the ethos and the success of the organisation. However, it was at this time that teachers began to look at their workloads and felt that they were being taken for granted for all the extra time they put in to after school clubs and weekend and holiday times.

There were even strikes as teachers felt so strongly. The result for the organisation was that almost overnight the usual length of stay at the Centres dropped from seven nights to four nights as schools no longer wanted to stay over the weekend and half terms and the summer holidays were left with empty beds.

At this time Denea Wright joined the Company as a seasonal instructor. With a teaching background in Geography and Physical Education the opportunities were inspiring. Within a year she had become the Manager of the Chatsworth Centre in Swanage.

Soon the Chatsworth began to adapt to the new demands and offered a range of Teaching Programmes run by Centre Staff, in order that visiting teachers could concentrate on pastoral care rather than having to lead every session. It was clearly the way forward and very fulfilling for the energetic and committed Centre Staff as the new concept quickly took off. Many innovative ideas were introduced and the Company became one of the founder members of the British Activity Holidays Association (BAHA) set up to establish a Code of Practice, for commercial centres.

The Adventure Activity Licensing Authority (AALA) was set up to inspect Centres which offered certain activities before they could be licensed.

At this point the work of the British Activity Holiday Association became even more important as Member Centres were inspected on all the activities they offered; Allnatt Centres were very focused on both obtaining a License for Rock Climbing and Abseiling, which they offer at the awesome Dancing Ledge Site in Dorset, and having all their Centres fully inspected and approved for all their activities.

In May 1996, Denea Wright was appointed as Managing Director and Matt Piper was appointed as Financial Director. Over the next 10 years programmes and services were streamlined to provide more focus and a great experience.

In April 2005, Denea and Matt negotiated a Management Buy-out, together with Heather Tainsh who entered the Board as Operations Director for the Chatsworth Centre.

Where we are today
now operating as allnatt venues we provide an innovative and complementary service during school holidays and during weekends. Our venues offer a perfect setting for wedding concert and special events. At East Dene we have dedicated three summer holiday weeks to Freedom Families, families who are living with autism and related behaviours.

However the education of children remains our core business in all our programmes we teach a healthy respect for the outdoors, not a fear of it, and encourage all our guests to get outside into the environment and feel the benefits of fresh sea air and physical exercise. The Chatsworth Centre is in such an inspirational setting with a great diversity of habitats to explore. We encourage everyone to stretch themselves out of their comfort zone in a supportive and encouraging group situation, through physical and mental challenges.  We stimulate everyone to think about the environment and to take simple steps towards sustainability.

Our Field Studies Department continues to thrive and is being developed to meet the ever changing curriculum requirements. We are this year aiming to complement this by offering more outdoor adventure programmes. We are very fortunate to have our centres in fantastic locations and hope to make the most of that even more over the coming years.

In short, we are going to educate more, inspire more and play more!

Finally, but not least, we recognise that not only does every child matter but so do adults! We aim to make your stay as comfortable and inspirational as we can by providing a genuinely friendly and professional service, improved facilities and new ideas annually.

Denea Wright BA PGCE DMS APIOL
Managing Director